• Year-on-year inflation slowed down to 6.1 percent in September from 6.3 percent in August.

  • Inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) declined to 6.7 percent in September from 7.6 in August mainly due to the reduction in the prices of food items.

  • Inflation rate in Areas Outside the National Capital Region (AONCR) remained at its August rate of 5.9 percent.

   

• Higher month-on-month inflation in H&R and services resulted to a 0.2 percent increase in September, the same rate posted in August.

  

>By Region, Year-on-Year

*The inflation rate for the National Capital Region (NCR) at 6.7 percent in September is slower than the 7.6 percent in August.

*Inflation in Areas Outside National Capital Region (AONCR) remained at its previous month's rate of 5.9 percent. Six regions posted higher inflation rates. The biggest increase was registered in Ilocos at 0.6 percentage point followed by Central Luzon at 0.5 percentage point. The highest inflation rate was recorded in Eastern Visayas at 7.5 percent while the lowest was in Cagayan Valley and CARAGA at 3.9 percent.

>By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

Except for H&R whose rate remained at 7.4 percent in September, all the other commodity groups posted slower rates. The inflation rate for FBT moved down to 4.2 percent in September from 4.5 percent in August; clothing, 3.9 percent from 4.1 percent; fuel, light and water, 10.3 percent from 11.1 percent; services, 11.3 percent from 11.4 percent; and miscellaneous items, 4.1 percent from 4.3 percent.

• The inflation rate for food alone slipped to 4.1 percent from 4.3 percent in August. The price of rice slowed down to 0.2 percent from 0.3 percent; corn, 0.3 percent from 1.4 percent; cereal preparations, 5.0 percent from 5.8 percent; dairy products, 14.0 percent from 14.2 percent; eggs, 6.4 percent from 6.5 percent; fish, 5.4 percent from 6.6 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 4.2 percent from 4.4 percent. On the other hand, the price of fruits and vegetables increased to 3.3 percent from 2.0 percent while the price of meat remained at its August rate of 6.8 percent.

Similarly, in NCR, the rates of all the commodity groups slowed down. The inflation rates for FBT were slower by 1.5 percentage points; clothing, 0.1 percentage point; H&R, 0.5 percentage point; FLW, 0.7 percentage point; services, 0.4 percentage point; and miscellaneous items, 0.3 percentage point.

• The inflation rate for food alone in NCR was 4.1 percent in September, lower than the 5.7 percent registered in August. Except for corn whose price went up to 11.9 percent from 4.8 percent, all the other food groups registered lower rates. The price of rice further declined to -0.7 percent from 0.2 percent; and fruits and vegetables, -2.4 percent from 0.5 percent. Lower growths were noted in cereal preparations, 7.0 percent from 9.9 percent; dairy products, 15.6 percent from 15.9 percent; eggs, 15.9 percent from 16.8 percent; fish, -0.6 percent from 4.7 percent; meat, 7.0 percent from 7.8 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 6.5 percent from 6.9 percent.

For AONCR, the rate of FBT picked up to 4.2 percent in September from 4.0 percent in August and H&R, 8.0 percent from 7.7 percent. Meanwhile, clothing decelerated to 3.5 percent from 3.7 percent; FLW, 8.3 percent from 9.1 percent; and miscellaneous items, 3.9 percent from 4.0 percent. Services retained its August rate of 11.7 percent.

• The inflation rate for food alone advanced to 4.0 percent in September from 3.9 percent in August.

• Higher rates were seen in the prices of eggs, 3.6 percent in September from 3.4 percent in August; fruits and vegetables, 5.3 percent from 2.7 percent; meat, 6.6 percent from 6.3 percent. However, slower rates were noted in the prices of corn, 0.1 percent from 1.4 percent; cereal preparations, 4.2 percent from 4.3 percent; dairy products, 13.4 percent from 13.5 percent; fish, 6.8 percent from 7.0 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 3.3 percent from 3.4 percent.

• The price of rice was 0.3 percent higher in September, slightly slower than the 0.4 percent recorded in August. Eight regions posted lower rates. The biggest decrease was observed in CAR at 1.7 percentage points. In addition, eight regions registered negative rates.

>By Region, Month-on-Month

Prices in NCR climbed up to 0.1 percent in September from 0.1 percent in August mainly due to the uptick in the prices of H&R in the area by 0.7 percent from 0.1 percent in August. A negative rate was noted in the price of FBT, -0.4 percent in September from 0.5 percent in August. Moreover, a slow upward movement was observed in the prices of FLW, 1.0 percent from 1.1 percent; and miscellaneous items, 0.1 percent from 0.2 percent. The price of clothing remained stable as it recorded zero growth this month from 0.2 percent last month.

Prices in AONCR registered a 0.2 percent growth in September, slower than 0.3 percent posted in August. The rate of miscellaneous items slid to 0.1 percent from 0.3 percent while the rate for FLW went up to 0.1 percent from zero growth. Rates in the previous month were retained for FBT and services at 0.3 percent; clothing, 0.2 percent; and H&R, 0.4 percent. CAR, Ilocos and Cagayan Valley posted zero growth this month while the highest rate was in Northern Mindanao at 0.5 percent.

>By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

The month-on-month inflation rates for H&R rose to 0.5 percent in September from 0.2 percent in August; and services, 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent. Meanwhile, slower rates were seen in the prices of clothing, 0.1 percent from 0.2 percent; and miscellaneous items, 0.1 percent from 0.3 percent. FBT and FLW stayed at their respective August rates of 0.1 percent and 0.4 percent.

• Abundant supply of vegetables flowing in at the various unloading points in NCR brought the fruits and vegetables index to decline by 0.8 percent in the area. CAR, Ilocos and Cagayan Valley, vegetable-producing regions, also registered negative rates. However, higher prices of selected fruits like banana, pomelo and mango in many regions caused the group's index to increase by 0.8 percent during the month. Overall, the index went up to 0.3 percent this month from 1.0 percent last month.

• The price of rice remained stable in NCR as it posted zero growth this month. Meanwhile, ten regions recorded positive rates, the highest of which was 0.7 percent in Western Mindanao. The lowest rate was in Southern Tagalog at 0.5 percent. Thus, the national index moved up but at a slower rate of 0.1 percent this month.

• Prices of cereal preparations in NCR rose to 0.3 percent in September from 0.2 percent. Inflation in AONCR also went up but at a slower rate of 0.2 percent from 0.3 percent. This resulted to a 0.3 percent increase at the national level as flour, bread, native cakes and biscuits were priced higher during the month.

• Prices of milk, cheese and butter continued to increase. The index for dairy products in the Philippines and AONCR moved at its August rate of 0.4 percent while the rate for NCR slowed down to 0.3 percent this month from 0.4 percent in August.

• Higher prices of miscellaneous foods, sugar, powdered tonic drink and some spices and seasonings caused the index of miscellaneous foods to increase by 0.1 percent in the Philippines, NCR and AONCR. In addition, meals eaten outside the home were priced higher during the month in some areas.

*The H&R index in NCR advanced to 0.7 percent from 0.1 percent last month. In AONCR, the index posted a 0.4 percent increase, the same rate recorded last month. This resulted to a 0.5 percent increment in the national index from 0.2 percent in August. Higher rental rates in many regions including NCR along with price add-ons on selected construction materials and higher wages for carpenter effected the increase.

*The services indexes for NCR and AONCR moved at their previous month's rates of 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. Increases were brought about by upward adjustments in the prices of medicines, some medical items and newspaper, along with the higher charges for dental and personal services. This gave a 0.3 percent increase in the national index.

*Higher purchased power adjustment (PPA) for electricity in NCR along with higher charges for electricity consumption in many regions raised the FLW indexes in the three areas: 0.4 percent in the Philippines, 1.0 percent in NCR and 0.1 percent in AONCR.

Results of the 2^nd phase survey were not received from the following provinces:

1. Kalinga Apayao
2. Lanao del Sur
3. Sulu